U.S. patent application number 10/925010 was filed with the patent office on 2005-03-03 for spouting structure for liquid container and bag-in-box container.
Invention is credited to Kuge, Raizo, Watanabe, Kenji.
Application Number | 20050045654 10/925010 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34101165 |
Filed Date | 2005-03-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050045654 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kuge, Raizo ; et
al. |
March 3, 2005 |
Spouting structure for liquid container and bag-in-box
container
Abstract
A spouting structure includes a spout attached to the liquid
container and having a mouthpiece, a cap screwed on the spout and
having a top wall and a cylindrical protrusion protruding from a
central part of the top wall having a bottom wall provided with an
opening and defining a cylindrical bore, and a round plate axially
movably fitted in the cylindrical bore of the cylindrical
protrusion. The cylindrical protrusion protrudes downward from the
top wall and is fitted in the mouthpiece of the spout. The round
plate is provided with at least one opening in its peripheral part,
has a plugging part formed in a central area of the lower surface
thereof and capable of being plugged closely in the opening formed
in the bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of the cap.
Inventors: |
Kuge, Raizo; (Tokyo-to,
JP) ; Watanabe, Kenji; (Tokyo-to, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Family ID: |
34101165 |
Appl. No.: |
10/925010 |
Filed: |
August 25, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
222/105 ;
222/153.06; 222/549 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/5877 20130101;
B65D 47/247 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
222/105 ;
222/153.06; 222/549 |
International
Class: |
B65D 035/56 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 26, 2003 |
JP |
2003-301062 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A spouting structure for a liquid container, comprising: a spout
attached to the liquid container, having a mouthpiece provided with
an external thread in its outer side surface, and a flange formed
integrally with the mouthpiece at a lower end of the latter; a cap
having a top wall, a cylindrical skirt extending downward from a
circumference of the top wall and provided with an internal thread
mating with the external thread of the mouthpiece, and a
cylindrical protrusion protruding downward from a central part of
the top wall, having a cylindrical bore opening in the top wall, a
bottom wall provided with an opening and fitted in the mouthpiece
of the spout; and a round plate provided with at least one opening
in its peripheral part, fitted in the cylindrical bore of the
cylindrical protrusion so as to be axially movable, and having a
plugging part formed in a central area of a lower surface thereof
and capable of being plugged closely in the opening formed in the
bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of the cap.
2. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein a film is
attached to the top wall of the cap.
3. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein the
plugging part is cylindrical.
4. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein the
plugging part has a thickness substantially equal to an axial
dimension of the opening formed in the bottom wall of the
cylindrical protrusion.
5. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein the round
plate is provided with a plurality of openings arranged
symmetrically with respect to a center of the round plate.
6. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein the round
plate is provided with a plurality of openings having the shape of
a circular arc and arranged on a circle having its center at a
center of the round plate.
7. The spouting structure according to claim 1, wherein the round
plate, the spout and the cap are formed of a polyolefin resin, and
the liquid container is formed from a laminated film produced by
laminating an oriented nylon film, a polyethylene film and a
low-density polyethylene film.
8. A bag-in-box container comprising: a bag provided with the
spouting structure according to claim 1; and a box containing the
bag.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a spouting structure for a
liquid container, such as a bag included in a bag-in-box container,
and a bag-in-box container.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A bag-in-box container has a bag formed from a plastic film,
and a corrugated fiberboard carton containing the bag. Referring to
FIG. 5, a bag 100 for a bag-in-box container has a flat bag body
101 formed from a laminated film produced by laminating an oriented
nylon film and a polyethylene film, and a spouting structure 102
attached to one of the walls of the bag body 101. The bag 100 of
this bag-in-box container is filled with a liquid product, such as
mineral water or a fruit beverage, under an aseptic condition to
store the liquid product or to transport the liquid product to a
desired place.
[0005] As shown in FIG. 6, the spouting structure 102 of the bag
100 of the bag-in-box container has a spout 106 including a
mouthpiece 104 provided in its outer side surface with an external
thread 103 and a flange 105 at its inner end. The external thread
103 and the flange 105 are formed integrally with the mouthpiece
104. A first sealing member 107 is attached to the outer end of the
mouthpiece 104 so as to seal the outer opening of the mouthpiece
104 completely, and a second sealing member 108 is attached to the
lower surface of the flange 105 so as to seal the inner opening of
the mouthpiece 104 partially. The bag 100 thus formed is irradiated
with gamma rays for sterilization.
[0006] When filling a liquid product, such as a fruit beverage,
into the bag 100, the first sealing member 107 completely sealing
the outer opening formed in the mouthpiece 104 of the spout 106 is
broken, a filling nozzle is connected to the spout 106, and the
liquid product is poured from the filling nozzle through the outer
opening of the mouthpiece 104 and the inner opening of the
mouthpiece 104 partially sealed by the second sealing member 108
into the bag 100. After the bag 100 has been filled with a
predetermined quantity of the liquid product, the filling nozzle is
disconnected from the mouthpiece 104, and the second sealing member
108 partially sealing the inner opening of the mouthpiece 104 is
attached by a sealing means to the flange 105 to seal the inner
opening completely.
[0007] The spout 106 of the spouting structure 102 attached to the
bag 100 of this bag-in-box container has the outer opening
completely sealed by the first sealing member 107, and the inner
opening partially sealed by the second sealing member 108. The
first sealing member 107 is broken to power the liquid product into
the bag 100. The second sealing member 108 is attached to the
flange 105 by the sealing means so as to seal the inner opening of
the mouthpiece 104 completely after the bag 100 has been filled
with the predetermined quantity of the liquid product. Thus the
liquid product cannot easily be filled into the bag 100 and the bag
100 cannot be reused. It is difficult to attach the second sealing
member 108 satisfactorily to the lower surface of the flange 105 to
seal the inner opening because the lower surface of the flange 105
is wet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing
problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a spout structure for a liquid container included in a
bag-in-box container facilitating work for filling a liquid into
the liquid container and makes it possible to reuse the liquid
container.
[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
bag-in-box container including a liquid container provided with the
foregoing spouting structure.
[0010] A spouting structure in a first aspect of the present
invention for a liquid container includes: a spout attached to the
liquid container, having a mouthpiece provide with an external
thread in its outer side surface, and a flange formed integrally
with the mouthpiece at the lower end of the latter; a cap having a
top wall, a cylindrical skirt extending downward from the
circumference of the top wall and provided with an internal thread
mating with the external thread of the mouthpiece, and a
cylindrical protrusion protruding downward from a central part of
the top wall, having a cylindrical bore opening in the top wall and
a bottom wall provided with an opening, and fitted in the
mouthpiece of the spout; and a round plate provided with at least
one opening in its peripheral part, fitted in the cylindrical bore
of the cylindrical protrusion so as to be axially movable, and
having a plugging part formed in a central area of a lower surface
thereof and capable of being plugged closely in the opening formed
in the bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of the cap.
[0011] A liquid product can be filled through the opening formed in
the bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of the cap screwed on
the spout. The round plate is moved toward the bottom wall of the
cylindrical protrusion of the cap to plug the plugging part in the
opening formed in the bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of
the cap to seal the liquid container after the liquid container has
been filled with the liquid product poured through a filling nozzle
into the liquid container. Thus the liquid container can be easily
filled with the liquid product by a series of simple
operations.
[0012] The bag-in-box container includes a bag provided with the
spouting structure according to the present invention, and a box
containing the bag.
[0013] The spouting structure of the present invention for a liquid
container includes the spout attached to the liquid container,
having a mouthpiece provide with an external thread in its outer
side surface, the cap having the cylindrical protrusion protruding
downward from the central part of the top wall, having the
cylindrical bore opening in the top wall and the bottom wall
provided with the opening, and fitted in the mouthpiece of the
spout, and the round plate provided with at least one opening in
its peripheral part, fitted in the cylindrical bore of the
cylindrical protrusion so as to be axially movable, and having the
plugging part formed in the central area of the lower surface
thereof and capable of being plugged closely in the opening formed
in the bottom wall of the cylindrical protrusion of the cap. Thus
the liquid container can be filled with the liquid product under an
aseptic condition without removing the cap from the spout, and the
spout can be sealed at the last stage of the filling operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent from the following
description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spouting structure in a
preferred embodiment according to the present invention for a
liquid container;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the spouting structure shown in
FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line A-A in FIG.
2;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the spouting structure shown
in FIG. 1 in a sealing state;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bag included in a
conventional bag-in-box container;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a spouting structure attached
to the bag shown in FIG. 5; and
[0021] FIG. 7 is a sectional of the spouting structure shown in
FIG. 6 in a sealing state.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, a spouting structure 1 in a preferred
embodiment according to the present invention for a liquid
container includes a spout 3 bonded to a liquid container 2, such
as a bag included in a bag-in-box container, and a cap 4 screwed on
the spout 3. The spout 3 and the cap 4 are formed of a polyolefin
resin. The liquid container 2 is formed from a laminated film
produced by laminating an oriented nylon film, a polyethylene film
and a low-density polyethylene film by a conventional forming
method.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 3, the spout 3 has a mouthpiece 6 provided
with an external thread 5 in its outer side surface, and a flange 7
formed integrally with the mouthpiece 6. The flange 7 is placed
inside the liquid container 2 with its upper surface in contact
with the liquid container 2. The flange 7 is bonded to the inner
surface of the liquid container by an ordinary bonding means to
connect the spout 3 to the liquid container 2.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, the cap 4 has a top wall 8, a
cylindrical skirt 9 extending downward from the outer circumference
of the top wall 8, and a cylindrical protrusion 10 protruding from
a central part of the top wall 8. The cylindrical protrusion 10 has
an open upper end and a bottom wall 11 provided with an opening 12.
The cylindrical protrusion 10 is formed in an outside diameter such
that the cylindrical protrusion 10 can be fitted in the mouthpiece
6 of the spout 3. A round plate 13 is fitted in the bore of the
cylindrical protrusion 10 so as to be axially movable.
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the round plate 13 has a
plugging part 15 formed in a central area of the lower surface
thereof and capable of being closely plugged in the opening 12 of
the bottom wall 11 of the cap 4. The round plate 13 is provided
with four curved openings 14 having the shape of a circular arc and
arranged on a circle. The plugging part has the shape of a thin
cylinder. The round plate 13 can be closely fitted in a lower part
of the cylindrical protrusion 10. The round plate 13 can be
immovably held at a closing position by closely plugging the
plugging part 15 in the opening 12. The axial length, namely, the
vertical dimension as viewed in FIG. 3, of the opening 12 is
approximately equal to the thickness of the plugging part 15. When
the plugging part 15 is plugged closely in the opening 12 to close
the opening 12 as shown in FIG. 4, the lower end surface of the
plugging part 15 is substantially flush with the lower surface of
the bottom wall 11. Since the lower end surface of the plugging
part 15 is substantially flush with the lower surface of the bottom
wall 11, dirt is hardly able to remain on the lower end surfaces of
the plugging part 15 and the bottom wall 11.
[0026] The openings 14 of the round plate 13 are arranged
symmetrically with respect to the center of the round plate 13. The
openings 14 have the shape of an arc of a circle having its center
at the center of the round plate 13. The number of the openings 14
of the round plate 13 does not need to be four as shown in FIG. 2,
but may be any suitable number as the occasion demands. Circular
openings may be formed instead of the openings 14 having the shape
of a circular arc on a circle in the round plate 13.
[0027] The cylindrical skirt 9 of the cap 4 is provided with an
internal thread 16 mating with the external thread 5 of the
mouthpiece 6 of the spout 3.
[0028] The cap 4 is screwed on the spout 3, and a sealing sheet,
not shown, formed by processing a laminated film produced by
laminating a polyester film and an olefin resin film is attached to
the top wall 8 of the cap 4 so as to cover the open end of the cap
4 to keep the liquid container 2 provided with the spouting
structure 1 in an aseptic state before the liquid container 2 is
used.
[0029] The liquid container 2 provided with the spouting structure
1 of the present invention is put in a corrugated fiberboard carton
to form a bag-in-box container.
[0030] The operation of the spouting structure 1 of the present
invention will be described. The sealing sheet is attached to the
top wall 8 of the cap 4 so as to cover at least the upper open end
of the top wall 8 before the liquid container 2 is used. As shown
in FIG. 3, the round plate 13 fitted in the cylindrical protrusion
10 of the cap 4 screwed on the spout 3 bonded to the liquid
container 2 is in an upper part of the cylindrical protrusion 10.
Therefore, the plugging part 15 of the round plate 13 is held
outside the opening 12 to open the opening 12. To fill a liquid
product, such as a fruit beverage, into the liquid container 2, the
sealing sheet attached to the top wall 8 of the cap 4 is pierced or
broken, a filling nozzle of a liquid pouring device, not shown, is
joined to the cylindrical protrusion 10 of the cap 4, and the
liquid product is poured through the filling nozzle into the
cylindrical protrusion 10. Then, the liquid product flows from the
cylindrical protrusion 10 protruding from the top wall 8 of the cap
4 through the openings 14 of the round plate 13, the opening 12 of
the bottom wall 11 of the cylindrical protrusion 10, and the spout
3 into the liquid container 2. After the liquid container 2 has
been filled with a predetermined quantity of the liquid product,
the filling nozzle is removed from the cylindrical protrusion 10 of
the cap 4, a pressing rod of a pressing device, not shown, is
inserted in the cylindrical protrusion 10 of the cap 4 to depress
the round plate 13 such that the plugging part 15 of the round
plate 13 is forced into the opening 12 formed in the bottom wall 11
of the cylindrical protrusion 10. Consequently, the spout 3 of the
liquid container 2 is closed completely by the cap 4. Thus the
liquid product, such as a beverage, can be filled into the liquid
container provided with the spouting structure of the present
invention and the liquid container can be sealed by a series of
operations under an aseptic condition. The liquid product contained
in the liquid container provided with the spouting structure of the
present invention can be transported to a desired place in an
aseptic state.
[0031] Although the invention has been described in its preferred
embodiments with a certain degree of particularity, obviously many
changes and variations are possible therein. It is therefore to be
understood that the present invention may be practiced otherwise
than as specifically described herein without departing from the
scope and spirit thereof.
* * * * *